One More Chance
by The Silent Rain
Summary: Lonely at a Hogwarts Christmas party, James Potter can only dream of spending the evening with Lily Evans, the girl of his dreams who is happily in a relationship with someone who, of course, isn't him. On a whim, he invites her to sneak out in the cold night to Hogsmeade with him, leaving her boyfriend behind and finally giving James one more chance to redeem himself.


_One More Chance_

_Chapter One._

* * *

She was dancing when he looked over at her.

No, she was doing more than dancing, James decided. She was doing some kind of feminine ritual of floating and hip-swaying that probably had the power to bring men everywhere to their knees. She was slow-dancing with that infuriating boy she was dating, Amos Diggory, and he saw her throw her head back and laugh, a tinkling melody that was even more musical than the magical orchestra on the stage at the front of the Great Hall. The sound, which floated towards him softly on the airwaves, sparked jealousy in his heart. Sitting there at the Hogwarts' seventh-years Christmas party, he was bored into oblivion and staring at the girl of his dreams wasn't helping his state.

James let his eyes roam down Lily Evans's slim but ever-so-curvy figure one last time before dragging his gaze away to instead take in the Great Hall. In all of his years at Hogwarts, it had never been so beautifully decorated. The never-ending night sky on the ceiling above him glimmered with stars and floating candles, and poinsettias blossomed in their pots on the Gryffindor table where he reclined. Christmastime was his favorite time of year.

"So where did your date get off to?" James asked Sirius, who was sitting next to him and fiddling with his wand, looking bored.

Sirius sat with his back to the table, stretching his legs out in front of him into the aisle. Moving his shaggy hair out of his eyes with a flick of his head, he said smoothly, "I could ask you the same thing, Prongs."

"No clue," he replied rather glumly, looking down at his dress shoes with a melancholy air about him. His date, Dorcas Meadowes, was nowhere to be seen, nor did he really care, for that matter. He was good friends with the petite, mousy-looking brunette, but he had only asked her because the girl he truly wanted to go with was being accompanied by Hufflepuff's biggest arse, and Dorcas knew it.

"D'you think you should go find her?" Sirius looked as nonchalant as ever, despite the fact that Marlene McKinnon, his own date, had long-disappeared as well.

"Nah." James's eyes wandered back to Lily. "I have more important things to do, like wonder why the _hell _Evans would date a bloke with a face like a drowning hippogriff."

Sirius snickered. "He's probably a good lay." He watched James cringe in disgust at the suggestion that Lily Evans would sleep with Amos Diggory. "_Kidding, _James. I'm _kidding._"

"I know you are, Padfoot, but it doesn't make the mental image any less revolting." James leaned forward and rested elbows on knees, chin in hands. "This party sucks."

"What did you expect? When you've got a woman like Minnie McGonagall planning a social event, you get stuck with things like this." Sirius rolled his eyes, and suddenly looked contemplative. "No one's spiked the punchbowl yet, and we're already halfway through the night. Maybe I should do it, just to liven things up."

"Doesn't sound like a half-bad idea," James said with a cynical smile. He was about to get up and help Sirius on his quest for alcohol when Dorcas appeared out of nowhere, with Marlene in tow. Neither girl looked particularly happy.

"Hey James," Dorcas greeted him joylessly. The small redheaded Marlene hanging onto her arm looked slightly dizzy. "Marly doesn't feel so well right now. She's been drinking her own private supply of booze all night and she already threw up in the bathroom. You wouldn't mind if I left the party early to take her back to our dormitory, would you?"

James eyed Marlene in concern. "Of course that's fine. Is she okay?"

"Not really," Marlene slurred, blinking slowly a couple times. "I mean, it's not normal for the room to spinnnnn, is it?"

"No, it's not," Sirius snorted. "Unless you're wasted, which you are." He exchanged a glance with James, and looked at Dorcas. "She beat us to it. We were right about to go spike the punchbowl."

Dorcas made a face. "Go ahead, if you think it's a good idea, but I won't be responsible when you both wind up with detention when we get back from Christmas Break." She pulled on Marlene's arm so she was standing straight up, albeit swaying slightly from side to side. "I gotta get her to our dorms before McGonagall notices her. Sorry to run out on you, James." She patted his arm and started for the door. "I'll see you after break, okay?"

"G'bye," James called after her. She waved and left the Great Hall with a stumbling Marlene holding on for dear life. He looked back up at the dance floor that was cleared in the front of the hall, with the orchestra behind it. Lily was still dancing with Amos, looking like the happiest girl in all of Great Britain, and it made him sick to his stomach.

"Just look at her, Sirius," he grumbled. "She could be happy with _me,_ if she gave me a chance. I mean, I don't look like a whale with bad warts, and I'm _better _than him." He sighed and leaned back, grabbing a biscuit from a tray resting on the table behind him. "I mean, our dates just walked out on us, and I'm sitting here wondering why I have to stare at Evans dancing with that prick."

"Well, no one said you _have _to watch," Sirius said reasonably. "And you haven't talked to her in a while. Who says you can't now?"

James didn't respond, and instead continued watching Lily, transfixed. The song the orchestra was playing dwindled to a conclusion, and she moved Amos's hands off of her hips, beaming up at the tall boy in happiness. She turned away and walked towards the still-unspiked punchbowl and took the ladle, pouring it into a crystal goblet and sipping slowly. Amos wandered in the other direction, finding his fellow Hufflepuff friends.

"You're right, Padfoot," James leapt to his feet, spurred on by a sudden impulse; from where it came, he didn't know, but he wasn't going to miss this chance to talk to Lily without her boyfriend literally hanging onto her. "I'm going to right now."

Sirius looked up at him, a lock of his hair falling into his eyes. Raising his eyebrows slightly, he asked, "Then who's going to help me get this lot drunk?"

"Try Remus or Peter, if you can find them," James called over his shoulder. "I've got a _quest, _Padfoot."

Sirius shrugged and muttered, "Suit yourself."

He brushed the stray tendril out of his eye and grabbed the hand of a passing Ravenclaw girl. She stared down at him, startled. "Do I know you?"

"Not yet, but I'm giving you a chance to." Sirius stood up and smiled at her, and he could see in her eyes that she was already melting under his smoldering gaze. "Dance with me."

* * *

James took a deep breath. He was only about five meters away from Lily, and she still hadn't noticed him. She was just _standing there, _her goblet of punch inches away from her full, red lips. It was too perfect, he thought. _She _was too perfect, and he was too lucky that he even had the courage to talk to her again, especially now that she had a boyfriend. She was in her own little reverie, and he was about to pull her right out of it.

"Hey Evans," he said cheerfully, walking up next to her and smiling warmly.

She turned to look at him. "Oh, hello Potter," she replied disinterestedly, sipping her goblet of punch. "Where's Dorcas? I thought she was your date. Did you ditch her?"

James winced internally. He should have known she'd have some kind of snap answer. "She had to take Marlene back to the dormitory. She's feeling a little under the weather, if you get my drift, and now my and Sirius are dateless."

"Classic Marlene," Lily rolled her eyes, though she giggled a bit. "She never misses a chance to drink." She stopped and peered at James. "So now that you're dateless, you're coming over to talk to me, hmm? Your last resort is to chat up a girl with a boyfriend?"

"I'm not chatting you up, I'm just being friendly!" James was getting slightly defensive. "I just came over to say hello is all." Feeling a bit dejected, he started to walk away. "Sorry."

"No, don't be sorry!" Lily reached out and grabbed his arm with her free hand that wasn't clutching the crystal goblet. "Stay with me, I'd love to talk to you. I've got nothing to do, besides, and Amos is off talking to his friends." The orchestra started up another song, a slow one this time, opening up with a wistful violin. "But can we do it outside? I hate songs like this." She didn't wait for his reply. "Come on Potter, there's a balcony outside not too far away. Let's go." Lily didn't let go of his arm and walked him out to the balcony.

James did a quick scan of the dance floor as he strode with Lily towards the doors of the Great Hall and towards a balcony facing the Black Lake. Amos was, mercifully, nowhere to be seen. He'd never know where his girlfriend wandered off to, nor did James particularly care.

She let go of his arm once they stepped out into the cold December air, and James couldn't help but shiver a bit from the chill. "You sure that standing out here is a good idea, Evans?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't mind the cold, and these dress robes are hot as anything, so I'll stand out here unless you can come up with a better idea."

James gazed out over the edge of the balcony. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground from earlier that day, and the temperature had not risen high enough for it to melt. Judging by the look of the clouds that were beginning to cover the starry night sky above, it was only a matter of time until the snowfall began once more. He pondered for a moment, taking Lily's challenge for a better idea seriously, though he was quite sure she was only joking. Though he had never liked the cold, he knew of a place that was beautiful around Christmas, especially in the snow.

"How about we go to Hogsmeade?"

Lily stared at him. "How about we go _WHERE?_"

"Hogsmeade," he repeated. "You know, that itty-bitty village not too far away from here—"

"I know what Hogsmeade is, and I heard you the first time, you prat," she said irritably. "But how, _in Merlin's name, _are we supposed to manage THAT?!"

"I guess you've never snuck out before, Evans," James smirked. "Oh, I forgot you're too good to do those things."

"I have snuck out before!" Lily crossed her arms. "But I don't see the point of going to Hogsmeade! By the time we get there, it'll be almost eleven o'clock at night! Everything will be closed! I mean, look at the time already! It's already past nine!"

"Don't get your knickers in a knot," James was quite amused by her growing indignation. "I know a faster way to get there, and don't you want to see the village in Christmastime?" She didn't look convinced, so he continued. "I swear we won't get caught, Evans. And plus, I know a bunch of places that'll be open." He was growing desperate to spend some time with her and to keep her away from Diggory, and he said pleadingly, "Come on Evans, _please? _Just this once."

Lily sighed. "I don't know what to tell Amos. And you and I are hardly what I'd call _friends, _Potter."

"Tell him you're going to sleep," James said, his eyes on fire. He was so close to having her. _So close. _"Or better yet, you don't have to tell him at all, that way you won't be lying to him and he doesn't need to know a thing." He looked into her green eyes intently. "And this is _our chance_ to be friends. I'm not asking that much of you."

She didn't respond and looked to be in thought for a few moments. James didn't speak and instead watched her intently until she at last smiled. "Fine."

It was all James could do not to start singing in pure joy on the spot, thanking all the angels that could possibly have aided him in getting Evans, _The Lily Evans, _to do the impossible: sneak out of school to Hogsmeade on the night before Christmas Break to spend time with him.

* * *

The pair had hurried back to Gryffindor Tower as quickly as they could, doing their best to escape the party unnoticed by their peers, especially Amos. Lily went to her dormitory to change into winter clothes and boots, and James ran up to his to do the same, also grabbing his Invisibility Cloak in the process. It was a gift from his father when he first started attending Hogwarts, and he had been using it for almost every act of mischief he could contrive. He slipped it into his pocket along with a copy of the Marauder's Map, and a knife he nicked from Sirius's drawer—a knife that could open any lock.

_Just in case, _he thought. He wanted to avoid trouble at all costs, lest Lily be turned off by it. Of course, he wasn't all too sure if he could even _trust _Lily enough to take out his Cloak or map in front of her. He took a deep breath and released it slowly.

_Well, it's worth the risk._

He grabbed a quill from a nearby desk and scrawled a note to Sirius on a piece of parchment. _Going to Hogsmeade with Lily. Don't tell anyone. I'll be back late. –Prongs._

Stuffing the note underneath Sirius's comforter on his four-poster bed, James adjusted the scarf around his neck and hurried down the stairs to the almost-empty Gryffindor Common Room. She was already down there, waiting for him alone. Her fiery-red hair cascaded over her shoulders, over the red and gold scarf almost exactly the same as the one James was wearing, and she had her hands stuffed in the pockets of her black cloak. She watched him descend the stairs, looking a bit nervous.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this, Potter," Lily said tensely. "I'm not so sure if this is a good idea."

"What's life without a little risk?" James grinned, grabbing her by the wrist and gently tugging her towards the portrait hole before she could truly change her mind. "Come on, I know a passageway that can get us there."

"There's a _passageway _to Hogsmeade?" Lily demanded incredulously, her eyes full of surprise as they exited the Common Room into the corridor. "I've gone seven years here without knowing this?!"

"I suppose you have." James was entertained. "Right behind the statue of the one-eyed witch in the third-floor corridor."

Lily's jaw dropped. "But I pass there _every day!_ How didn't I know…?"

"Plenty of people don't know that it's there," James replied, stopping short. He heard footsteps around the corner and didn't want to run the risk of a confrontation with anyone who would give them trouble. "Stop for a minute, we need to do something." He reached into his pocket and yanked out his Invisibility Cloak. "Get under this."

"_What is that?!"_

"Just do it." James threw it over both of their heads just as Filch, the caretaker, rounded the corner, muttering to himself.

"Damn kids…I'll have to help clean up that mess they're making…" he grumbled, trudging in the opposite direction of the Great Hall. "Think they can do anything they'd like…if I had my way, they'd be hanging upside-down in the dungeons."

Lily stared at James, wide-eyed, and he gestured for them to keep walking. When Filch was out of earshot, she whispered to him, beneath the cloak, "What is this thing? It's like he…didn't even see us."

"Because he didn't," James said seriously. "It's an Invisibility Cloak, and I'm pretty sure it's the only one of its kind in the world." Lily looked amazed. "Look, you can't tell anyone about it, and I mean _anyone._"

"I won't," Lily promised, still looking awestruck. "This is amazing."

"The only people who know are Peter, Remus, and Sirius. We use it whenever we go on adventures, or whenever we need to sneak out at night."

Lily giggled. "I'm sure that's pretty often." They were right outside the statue of the horrendously ugly one-eyed witch now. "What do we do next? Tap it and say, 'Bibbity-bobbity-boo?'"

"Not quite," James replied, although he pulled out his wand as she said this. He cleared his throat dramatically and reached out from under the cloak, tapping the witch once and whispering, "_Dissendium._" The witch's hump opened up in reply, exposing a slide into darkness below. "After you, Miss Lily."

Lily stared. "This is some crazy trick you're playing on me, Potter. There is no way in hell I'm going down there."

"Well then, I guess we aren't going to Hogsmeade." Lily made a face at him. "Okay fine, I'll go down first." He looked around to make sure the coast was clear and pulled off the Cloak. He slipped out his wand and whispered, "_Lumos._" With the light of his wand to guide the way, he slid down into the tunnel beneath them. He heard Lily take a deep breath, and she followed suit. Once both of them were safely in the rather-dank tunnel, the trapdoor closed with a soft creak behind them, and they were immersed in total darkness besides the light of James's wand.

"Come on, Lily," James said, grabbing her hand in the near-blackness. "It's straight-through from here."

She did not balk at the sudden personal behavior that he displayed, and gripped his hand tightly as he led her through the passageway. Suddenly, the tunnel began to slope upwards, just as he knew it would, and fifteen minutes of brisk walking later, they were there, at the steps towards trapdoor leading into Honeydukes's cellar.

In the wandlight, James put a single finger to his lips. Lily nodded, understanding that silence was imperative. He extinguished the light without a word, and once more threw the cloak over them as they climbed to the top and opened the door.

Honeydukes's cellar was, of course, devoid of all people. There was a single magical lamp hanging on the wall to give them light, and as James closed the trapdoor behind Lily, he could tell she was scared.

"Where are we?" she whispered. "Are we in…Honeydukes?"

James nodded, putting a finger to his lips once more as they climbed the ladder leading to the main floor. The only light there was the shining of the moon emanating through the windows, almost completely obscured by the coming clouds. Tiptoeing through the empty shop, all its glass jars of candy and chocolate sealed for the night, they made it to the locked door, and James drew out Sirius's knife, opening the blade, and sliding it along the vertical crack in the door. There was a soft _click_, and the glass-paned door swung open noiselessly.

"You're full of surprises tonight, James," Lily breathed, awed.

He grinned, and as they stepped outside, he closed the shop door behind them and pulled of the Invisibility Cloak. "I am, Lily." He watched her take in the environment, all the shops lit up with magical Christmas lights, the streets barely lined with a gentle snowfall. A few stores still seemed to be open, and they could see down the street a couple stray shoppers strolling home in the wintry nighttime. "For now, welcome to Hogsmeade."

* * *

**A/N: I haven't written much in a long time, and quite honestly, this is something that I meant to have up back in the first week of January, when it was actually seasonally-appropriate. Oh well, there's nothing to complain about a little Christmas in June, is there? This will be probably about three chapters long, and I intend for it to be mostly sweet and fluffy. For those of you who read my other stories, YES, I promise I'm updating them! No fears, my dears. I have not abandoned the world of fanfiction. For now, enjoy this brief little thing I have, and bask in the glorious wintry setting in the heat of summer.**

_**The Silent Rain**_


End file.
